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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · bear · sharp · cold · ground · mine · saw · snap

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. snap — to click
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. ground — crushed
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. saw — the tool
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. saw — the tool
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. sharp — clever
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com